Breaking News:Celtic Champions League rivals rocked by major injury crisis…
The Scottish champions travel to Croatia this week for their latest game in the new-look format for the competition with a win surely all but securing a spot in the next stage of the tournament, with two games to go after it.
But Dinamo Zagreb have suffered a nightmare build-up to the game and were held to a shock 1-1 home draw with Slaven Belupo on Friday – their fifth game without a win – and are now struggling in third place in the league.
And they have been decimated with injuries, with eight players rated as either out or doubtful for the game after a new injury on Friday to Spanish defender Raul Torrente.
Under-pressure boss Bjelica saw his players booed off at the Maksimir, but insists his side can still beat Celtic…despite their recent form and injury list.
He said: “We play Celtic this week and we are down to 14 fit players for it.
“Those players we have will go out and give everything against them.
“We will not whine, we will not complain. The Champions League is exhausting, anyone who has played it knows that. A lot of players are playing it for the first time.
“When we played against Slovan Bratislava, we had eight players who had not played in the Champions League before. For them, it is something new. Injuries happen.
“Despite everything, I believe we can beat Celtic and I believe we can still win the league title.
“I understand the booing from the supporters. They must be disappointed, but I cannot fault my players because they gave everything.
“I spoke to the team and I told them I was satisfied. We had 28 shots on goal and absolutely deserved to win by a few goals. We just didn’t take our chances.”
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